<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>amor et exitium by kalypse</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29963241">amor et exitium</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypse/pseuds/kalypse'>kalypse</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hogwarts, Reader-Insert, Slytherin, Slytherin Reader, Tom x reader - Freeform, tom riddle oneshot, tom riddle oneshots, tom riddle x reader - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:13:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,828</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29963241</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypse/pseuds/kalypse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is searching for the last Horcrux and he comes across a memory of someone that he's never heard of. What will it reveal?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tom Riddle &amp; Reader, Tom Riddle | Voldemort/Reader, Tom Riddle/Reader, Tom Riddle/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>amor et exitium</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was depressing entering Dumbledore's office, knowing that his beloved mentor wouldn't be there to welcome him, but Harry knew he had to do this. He had a feeling that here was the information that would lead him to the last Horcrux. </p><p> </p><p>A sound was heard and Harry immediately tried to locate where it was coming from. Then he saw. A memory bottle, shaking, its content shining more than the others. It seemed to want to catch the young wizard's attention.</p><p> </p><p>Harry immediately took it from its place and he poured it in the Pensieve. Without second thoughts, he put his head over the magic liquid.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"I'm going to return this book and I'll come back," you said to your friends as you stood up from your dinner table. One of them nodded and you made your way straight to the library.</p><p> </p><p>You were done with your job and was heading to the exit when you noticed something odd that you hadn't noticed when you entered in. The restricted section was open.</p><p> </p><p>Curious as you were, you approached slowly the section. Who had opened it? Did a teacher forget to lock it?</p><p> </p><p>You saw a boy holding a book, his back facing you and he yet hadn't noticed that you were there, absorbed as he was reading the book.</p><p> </p><p>"What are you doing here?"</p><p> </p><p>Finally noticing that he wasn't alone he closed the book and turned around to look at you. You immediately recognised him. Not only was he in your house, he was part of professor Slughorn's slug club as well. His name, Tom Riddle.</p><p> </p><p>"I could ask you the same thing."</p><p> </p><p>"I asked you first."</p><p> </p><p>It was obvious that he wasn't fond of the idea of giving any explanation to you, neither was he going to. You stepped in the restricted section, your fingers running through the covers of books you had never seen before. </p><p> </p><p>"I won't snitch on you. But you have to let me take a look while we're here," you said as you picked up a book that caught your attention.</p><p> </p><p>"Are you interested in the dark arts?"</p><p> </p><p>"Who isn't interested in the forbidden?" A small smirk formed on your lips.</p><p> </p><p>Tom's eyes gleamed with interest as he observed your every move.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Christmas found Tom Riddle in the library, studying as usual. Footsteps made him realise he wasn't alone anymore and he looked up to see you coming towards him.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh I knew I would find you here," you said as you sat next to him. He greeted you.</p><p> </p><p>"I thought you'd be spending your Christmas with your parents."</p><p> </p><p>"Sometimes I leave, sometimes I stay. It depends really."</p><p> </p><p>Tom hummed and looked back at the open book on the table. It was strange to admit but he was glad you didn't leave for Christmas.</p><p> </p><p>He enjoyed your presence. You were nothing like his other companions. The thing is you truly understood him, his aspirations, his ideals. You were equal to him.</p><p> </p><p>However, those weren't the only reasons he was fond of you. In fact, Tom couldn't quite put his finger on it but he somehow took comfort in your company. Maybe it was because he considered you worthy enough, that had resulted in him feeling this way. He trusted you.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, what are you studying anyway?" You moved closer to take a look. He looked at you, your faces being dangerously close to each other for a brief moment, before you pulled away quickly. </p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, both of you sensed magic above your heads taking a form, causing you to avert your focus to it.</p><p> </p><p>"A mistletoe," he said. Your usual confident composure loosened as you stared at him, feeling a rush throughout your whole body.</p><p> </p><p>"...You know what that means, right?" Tom didn't reply. He was debating whether he should do it or not. </p><p> </p><p>"...Tom?" You felt his lips on yours. They were a bit harsh but the kiss was sweet. A small sigh of satisfaction left your mouth when he pulled away but at the same time you craved for more of his touch.</p><p> </p><p>"Happy Christmas."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was, of course, forbidden, but you liked sneaking in Tom's room sometimes late at night.</p><p> </p><p>"For once I don't find you with your nose buried in a book," you whispered as you climbed on his bed and hugged him from behind. You looked over his shoulder to see a small, black box in his hands, which immediately made you curious.</p><p> </p><p>"What's this?"</p><p> </p><p>"Something I got for you."</p><p> </p><p>That surely caught you off guard. Tom wasn't the type to give gifts and neither were you, so that was a surprise.</p><p> </p><p>He turned around to hand you the box. "Why don't you open it?" You glanced at him, before slowly opening it. Inside of it was what seemed to be a necklace. A snake made of silver with bright, emerald stones for eyes, was hanging from a silver chain.</p><p> </p><p>"It's so beautiful..." Your fingers traced along the delicately sculpted silver, while staring in awe.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm glad you like it! Let me put it on you."</p><p> </p><p>You gave him the necklace and turned around, the back of your neck exposed to him. The cold material of the chain brushed against your skin as your partner clasped the necklace. You faced Tom once again, leaning in to give him a quick peck on his lips.</p><p> </p><p>"Thank you."</p><p> </p><p>Tom smiled. And it was extremely rare for him to smile. Maybe he trusted the dimly lit room to hide it, but you had seen him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Chamber of Secrets had been opened. You walked around in circles, admiring the snake-head statues and at the far end, the wall statue of the founder of your house, but most importantly, the ancestor of your lover.</p><p> </p><p>"I still cannot believe it," you said as you looked at Tom, "you are the Heir of Slytherin!"</p><p> </p><p>He smirked and he walked towards you. "I am, my dear y/n." He caressed your cheek softly, "And now I can fullfil Salazar Slytherin's noble work."</p><p> </p><p>"Purge Hogwarts from muggle-borns..." You whispered. You pulled away from his touch, laughing maliciously.</p><p> </p><p>"Is the beast that will cause havoc really inside there?" You pointed at Slytherin's statue.</p><p> </p><p>A hissing sound came as a reply and you knew it was Tom using parseltongue. The mouth of the statue opened and the legendary serpent came into view. You watched it move with admiration and fear at the same time, not daring to move from the place you were standing.</p><p> </p><p>It was huge, its striking yellow eyes boring holes into you as it neared you. You felt Tom's presence next to you, making you feel more reasssured.</p><p> </p><p>"She won't hurt you, I commanded her not to. You know that otherwise, you would be dead by the second you had looked in her eyes."</p><p> </p><p>You nodded, not taking your eyes off the basilisk. You wanted to touch her but you refrained from doing so.</p><p> </p><p>Tom was satisfied with the impression he had made on you. With his hand on your waist, he ordered the large snake to leave and execute his plan.  </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The basilisk truly had spread terror among the school. And once finally what you wished to see, happened, which was a muggle-born being killed, it backfired to you and especially Tom.</p><p> </p><p>"Where are you going?" You shouted as you were following him. He was walking too fast for your liking. You knew he was stressed after learning about the possibility of Hogwarts closure, but you found it extremely irresponsible how he had just decided to go wherever he was going with no explanation. He could raise suspicions.</p><p> </p><p>You lost sight of him when he turned to his left. Speeding up your pace, you took the same turn, only to walk into someone, causing you both to fall on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>"I-i'm sorry," the person said. You looked at them, your face morphing an expression of disgust, as you identified the student as the Gryffindor with the name Rubeus Hagrid. Terrified by you, Hagrid disappeared as quickly as possible when he stood up. </p><p> </p><p>"Gross," you muttered as you wiped your robes and started looking for Tom. Gladly it was a short time before finding him.</p><p> </p><p>"Leave me alone, y/n!"</p><p> </p><p>"Have you gone mad?"</p><p> </p><p>"I'm trying to think."</p><p> </p><p>"And I'm trying to help you so quit acting like an idiot." You grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to look at you.</p><p> </p><p>While you were greatly repulsed by your encounter with Hagrid, you couldn't deny that it had given you a seemingly brilliant idea.</p><p> </p><p>"Say Tom, doesn't that troublemaker Hagrid have an Acromantula? You've told me so. And don't those large spiders like human flesh?"</p><p> </p><p>Tom processed what you have just said, quickly grasping your way of thinking.</p><p> </p><p>"He's the perfect person to frame," he finally said and you nodded, smirking.</p><p> </p><p>Faint steps came from the staircase that was near the place you were standing and they gradually became louder.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm going to wait for you in the common room," you whispered and you let go of Tom. You hid behind a wall that was far enough to not be seen, watching him going up the stairs. You recognised one of the shadows that approached as the professor Dumbledore. You didn't recognise the other figures but soon they revealed themselves, four men that were carrying the girl that the basilisk had succeded in killing. </p><p> </p><p>"It is not wise to be wandering around this late hour, Tom." You heard Dumbledore talk.</p><p> </p><p>Kind of annoyed by the teacher, you huffed as you left your hiding place and made your way to the Slytherin common room like you had promised. Tom would tell you everything after anyways and you knew he would handle the situation perfectly.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Graduation day. That had been your last day at Hogwarts. In a few hours, you would be in the enchanted boats that had brought you to the school of magic about seven years ago, however, this time you would be leaving. You wondered if you would miss your life in the castle like many people say they miss their school years, but you doubted it. To you, it seemed as if real life began now.</p><p> </p><p>"Congratulations y/n! I expect great things from you!" Professor Slughorn shook your hand. </p><p> </p><p>"Thank you, sir." Your lips formed into a small smirk, flattered by the praise you had just received.</p><p> </p><p>Next person who you seemed to be greeting for the last time, was professor Dumbledore. You almost grimaced as you neared him, but you stopped yourself from doing so.</p><p> </p><p>"Congratulations, Miss l/n," he said in his usual calm tone. You shook his hand as well. There was something off about him, as if he wanted to say something.</p><p> </p><p>"And be careful." </p><p> </p><p>"May I ask why are you telling me this, sir?" </p><p> </p><p>You swore you saw his gaze averting at Tom's direction, who wasn't far from you, but it all happened too quickly to tell.</p><p> </p><p>"You never know," he replied with a brief smile.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Upon entering Borgin and Burkes, you felt surrounded by dark magic. You walked in the large shop, observing the unusual artefacts. A necklace made from opal stones caught your attention, but the warning label on it held you back from touching it.</p><p> </p><p>"What are you doing over there?" A smooth voice behind you caused you to turn around.</p><p> </p><p>"Visiting you of course," was your reply to Tom, as you hugged him, "I'm glad your boss isn't here, I don't like him."</p><p> </p><p>He just chuckled and pulled out from the hug, going back to his work, or better, studying. It made you frown, of course Tom was always like this but lately he seemed to be detached from the world in general.</p><p> </p><p>"You know, everyone is surprised and disappointed by your career choice. They think you're wasting your potential. I was even asked by a co-worker at the Ministry, who had heard that I'm close to you, to convince you to resign and work with us."</p><p> </p><p>"I see that they don't suspect me, how convenient. So easy to fool," he boasted with arrogance.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, of course, nobody knows your real intentions." </p><p> </p><p>The following minutes were pure awkward silence. You even had gone and sat next to Tom, like how you used to keep him company at Hogwarts, but instead you felt discomfort and were not interested at what he was doing like back then.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm leaving," you announced, "I have my own business to attend."</p><p> </p><p>A quiet murmur was his response, just to show you that he had heard you. With a sigh, you left the shop.</p><p> </p><p>Thoughts filled your head. Maybe he wasn't the one who had changed, but it was you. Your new environment had perhaps affected you more than you'd ever like to admit. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"I can't come with you."</p><p> </p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps today would be the day you would part ways with the man opposite you. His current plan was to steal his ancestor's locket and Hufflepuff's cup by murdering a woman called Hepzibah Smith and then disappear with you, leaving no traces behind. The former part of the plan had already been executed with success and was the reason why you were summoned in a forest, in the middle of the night.</p><p> </p><p>But you could not participate in this. Maybe some years ago all of this would make sense to you but not anymore. You had changed. It was a combination of more maturity and the eradication of your disturbing ideals of Pure-Blood supremacy, due to having to see the world from another perspective in your job and deciding to actively work against your prejudiced views. Tom had changed too. Getting more and more involved into the Dark Arts, his obsession with such magic had worsened, his main objective now was to acquire complete immortality and power.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm saying that all this... It is madness."</p><p> </p><p>Tom's face morphed into a bitter expression, his eyes were filled with disappointment, rage, sadness, all at once. Why were you like this? What was wrong with you?</p><p> </p><p>"This is not going to end well..."</p><p> </p><p>"I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!"</p><p> </p><p>"TOM, PLEASE!"</p><p> </p><p>"DON'T CALL ME BY THE FILTHY MUGGLE NAME I WAS GIVEN!"</p><p> </p><p>That was correct, Tom fancied himself with the name Lord Voldemort, but you always called him by his birth name. When he first told you about it, you thought it was ridiculous, however you never told him out loud. You saw it as an almost childish attempt of him to appear more intimidating and by now it had turned into something dark, just like he intended to.</p><p> </p><p>"YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET EVERYTHING!"</p><p> </p><p>But he didn't listen, instead he muttered the words of the Killing Curse. A green light blinded your eyesight and it would be the last thing you'd see before departing for the other world.</p><p> </p><p>Tom stood above your lifeless body. Frustration was written all over his face. But you had betrayed him, he was so foolish to ever trust you in the first place. You had proved to be yet another person who stood in his way of glory and he had removed you just like he had done to anyone else acting similarly. </p><p> </p><p>The necklace he had once given to you as a gift, shone before his eyes. Over the years he had observed that it was very rare for you to not be wearing it. He lowered on the ground, taking it in his palm. After examining it, he took it off and left. Your body still on the cold grass, clouds covered the moon, the forest became darker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Harry let go of the Pensieve, trying to recollect everything he had just seen. You were, as strange as it sounded, Lord Voldemort's lover, you were the one who had come up with the plan to frame Hagrid and the necklace... In all his visions and nightmares, Voldemort was always wearing it. Harry never had paid attention to it that much, he thought it was a necklace with the Dark Mark but it's in the small details that the truth lies, it seemed. The last Horcrux was your necklace.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The silver snake necklace was shattered into small pieces and instantly after, the spell that had rebounded off Harry's one, found the man's chest who had terrorised the Wizarding world for many years.</p><p> </p><p>Covered in blood and dirt, Harry watched as Lord Voldemort started to disintegrate into ashes. A faint light appeared and it took a human form, like a ghost, slightly above the ground. Harry quickly realised who the person was. </p><p> </p><p>Disappointment and anger was evident in your eyes, as you looked at your once beloved partner's pathetic state.</p><p> </p><p>"I told you that you would regret everything," your voice echoed in a calm tone.</p><p> </p><p>The Dark Lord tried to reach for you, but you distanced yourself away from him with disgust.</p><p> </p><p>"No, Tom," you said spitefully as you started fading away, "You're in this journey alone."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>